Science

TORONTO — Theories abound as to why women go into menopause, but the latest hypothesis being put forward suggests it may be men — or specifically their preference for younger mates — that has led to women’s loss of fertility at a certain age.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that companies cannot patent parts of naturally-occurring human genes, a decision with the potential to profoundly affect the emerging and lucrative medical and biotechnology industries.

BEIJING — China’s latest manned space capsule docked with an orbiting space station Thursday, and the three astronauts climbed aboard what will be their home for the next week, state media reported.

WASHINGTON — Everyone knows cheetahs are blazingly fast. Now new research illustrates how their acceleration and nimble zigzagging leave other animals in the dust and scientists in awe.

EDMONTON — Alberta’s energy industry has found that cleaning up oilsands tailings is much harder than it thought.
The province’s energy regulator says all oilsands companies affected by tailings reduction rules missed what were supposed to be legally binding targets — some by wide margins. All were given extra years to meet reductions that should have been done by now.

WASHINGTON — Astronomers getting their first close-up glimpse of a giant asteroid about to whiz by Earth found a surprise bonus rock. A smaller moon asteroid is circling the larger space rock, an unusual but not unheard of space phenomenon.

HALIFAX—The Canadian Hurricane Centre is backing U.S. predictions of an active season this year, telling residents in the Atlantic provinces they should prepare.
The Canadian centre said today an unusually warm tropical Atlantic Ocean is one of the factors behind the forecast of an active hurricane season, which continues a 15-year period of high hurricane activity.

SAN FRANCISCO — Few have explored the remote volcanic islands of the Galapagos archipelago, an otherworldly landscape inhabited by the world’s largest tortoises and other fantastical creatures that inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

DALLAS — A solar-powered plane has landed in Texas, completing the second leg of a trip across the United States.
The Solar Impulse is making the first attempt by a solar airplane capable of flying day and night without fuel to fly across the U.S.
The plane landed early Thursday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport after taking off Wednesday from Phoenix.

MONTREAL—Three years of efforts to protect Canada’s boreal forest have ended in failure as negotiations broke down between environmentalists and the forest industry.
Resolute Forest Products said today it could not accept a proposal from environmentalists that it said would have threatened thousands of jobs in remote communities.